iPhone-Style Touch on a Giant Screen

iPhone-Style Touch on a Giant Screen

Han expects to see his displays used by architects collaborating interactively on design ideas, or for videoconferencing where people on opposites sides of the country can use touch panels like a white board for long distance brainstorming. “This is really a communication device,” says Han.

Perceptive Pixel has also developed software than can be used to manipulate data on its screen in certain common formats. It is also working with large software companies to develop plug-ins so that their products can be used on large multitouch displays.

Jennifer Colegrove, an analyst specializing in emerging display technology at DisplaySearch, says that scaling projected capacitance to such a large display is impressive. The technology is more expensive than other methods of detecting touch, such as infrared, or using cameras, but it should be more accurate, says Colegrove. “Most people claim that you can detect the touches of 10 separate fingers at once,” she says, “and it is easier to reject accidental palm touches.”

Being able to support multitouch is especially important for very large displays, because it allows several people to collaborate on one display. Perceptive Pixel claims its technology can detect an “unlimited” number of simultaneous touches.

Other companies have scaled up projected capacitance to displays as large as 30 or 50 inches, says Colegrove, but these have only been produced in low volume. “This display from Perceptive Pixel sounds like it could be more suited to situations like boardrooms and other less specialized uses,” she says.